Vivienne Westwood: The Queen of Fashion and Sustainability

Have you heard about the new wave of designers who are reinventing fashion with a green twist? That’s right, it’s not just about looking fabulous anymore, it’s also about saving the planet. And leading this charge is none other than the legendary Vivienne Westwood.

Westwood, known for her punk rock designs and British aesthetic, has been a trailblazer in sustainable clothing for over nine years. She discovered James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis, which views the biosphere as a living being and all its inhabitants as organs of Mother Earth, and since then she’s been tirelessly working for the protection of the planet and its ecosystems.

Not only does Westwood raise awareness through her digital publication, climaterevolution.co.uk, but she also practices what she preaches. Her best-known slogan, “Buy less, choose well, make it last,” calls for balanced consumption, whether it’s fashion or any other resources. She’s slowly transforming her brand by using recycled or eco-friendly fabrics and environmentally sustainable production methods. Her collections feature organic linen and cotton for T-shirts, hoodies, and trousers, bamboo fiber for certain shirts, as well as precious colorful jacquards that were realized with cellulose acetate produced from wood fiber sourced from a program of reforestation.

But it’s not just about the clothes. Westwood is actively campaigning through action programs, viral videos, and fundraising efforts. She’s close to the charities Greenpeace and PETA, and she’s dedicated to spreading the word about the importance of environmental protection.

Her dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed. In December 2018, Westwood was awarded the Swarovski Award for Positive Change at the British Fashion Awards, a prize that celebrated both her iconoclastic collections and her many years of social and societal activism. And she’s not stopping there. This February, with her return to London Fashion Week, she put on a demonstration-like runway show that focused on questions of climate change and sustainable development.

But that’s not all. A few weeks later, her Paris shop hosted an event that mixed art, fashion, and sustainable development, with an exhibition showing monumental aquatic canvases by César Bardoux, and the sale of a steel water bottle created in partnership with 24Bottles, as part of the fight against plastic pollution and in favor of preservation of the Earth’s water resources.

Westwood’s commitment to the planet has opened the way for a new generation of designers who care just as passionately about the environment. Stay tuned to “Numéro” as we shine the spotlight on five environmentally conscious pioneers, one every week. Vivienne Westwood is just the beginning of the fashion revolution. XOXO.

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